tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125543382018-05-28T22:53:36.871-07:00Stonehill NewsMicro-news for <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=34.191997,-118.115816&amp;spn=0.03848,0.050125&amp;z=14&amp;om=1&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b5ca819ee4d362b" title="See Census Tract 4601 overlaid on a Google Map">CT 4601, Altadena, CA</a>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.comBlogger119125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-80973652841507893802016-09-30T17:12:00.001-07:002016-09-30T18:29:21.094-07:00What If: Official Rules<br /><br /><br /><br />What If is a game. I just made it up, and so the rules are subject to change, based on game-play feedback. This post will be updated when/if rules change, so you can permalink it as the sacrosanct official rules. We'll use Semantic Versioning, you can always be sure if you've got the latest version by looking at the version number at the top and the change log at the bottom of the post.<br /><br /><br /><h2>What If <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>v1.0.0</i></span></h2>Objective: Get points by proposing your best answer to any What If scenario, or teaming up with a better answer.<br />Number of Players: Minimum of 5 is suggested<br />Age: Any, as long as they can understand the rules and participate. They should be able to talk in a manner which all the other players can understand. Minimum of 8 is suggested.<br /><ol><li>All turns start with the youngest player, and proceed by increasing age, returning to the youngest after the oldest player's turn (until you want to stop playing).</li><li>Anyone can join or leave the game any time, if you want to play that way (decide as a group before you start).</li><li>Each player poses a What If scenario, and then the youngest player gives an answer. The youngest player will always answer first, even on their own scenario.</li><li>Any What If scenario can be vetoed by any one player objecting.</li><li>If your proposed scenario is vetoed, you can keep changing the scenario or proposing new ones until no other player objects.</li><li>If a player is being particularly objectionable, all the other players may unanimously agree to skip the player's turn to make a What If scenario.</li><li>Any player can ask clarifying questions about the What If scenario before it is accepted. </li><li>Once the What If scenario is understood and accepted by all the players, everyone goes around, always starting with the youngest player, and proposes an answer or solution based on What they would do If they were either alone, or were the most responsible person in a group when the What If scenario happens.</li><li>As each player's answer turn comes up, they can do one of three things:</li><ul><li>Join with any previous player's answer</li><li>Propose an improvement to any previous player's answer</li><li>Propose a completely new answer</li></ul><li>If a player has their answer improved upon, they decide if they accept the improvement, or consider that a completely new answer.</li><li>If other people have already joined a player's answer, and that player decides to accept an improvement and join the improved answer, the original answer goes up for grabs; every player who joined it can choose to also follow the original player and join the improved one, or stay with the existing one. </li><li>When an answer splits, the youngest player left on that answer becomes the new owner.</li><li>Once the current player is finished deciding if their answer is new or and improvement, everyone has the option to join any given answer, following the same process of deciding who owns the answer if the current owner joins another answer.</li><li>After the oldest player finishes answering, and every player has finished deciding which answer they want to join, points are awarded based on the number of people on each answer as follows:</li><ul><li>For the owner of the answer, 2 points per person who joined it.</li><li>For everyone else on the answer, 1 point per person who joined it.</li></ul></ol><h3>Example Game Play</h3><ol><li>Five players play in this order: Fiona (13), Pepper (15), Lily (15), Dad (45), Grandma (103).</li><li>Nobody else wants to play.</li><li>Fiona poses her scenario first, since she's the youngest. Her What If scenario is, "What If you suddenly discovered you can fly one day."</li><li>Grandma objects, because she says that's too boring.</li><li>So Fiona changes her What If scenario to, "What If you suddenly discovered you can fly one day, but slowly and not very well."</li><li>Nobody objects.</li><li>Pepper asks if flying is risky, and Fiona says, "Yes, it is risky. You sometimes have a hard time controlling it, and you could fall really hard and maybe die. It's similar to riding a motor cycle."</li><li>The scenario is accepted, and answers will be given in order starting with Fiona, as they always will. Fiona is always first in this group.</li><li>The turns go like this </li><ol><li>Fiona:</li><ul><li>Fiona would carefully practice and try to get better at it. </li></ul><li>Pepper</li><ul><li>&nbsp;Pepper would only do it to a hovering height</li></ul><li>Lily</li><ul><li>Lily would join Fiona's answer</li><li>Pepper and Fiona stay with their current answers</li></ul><li>Dad</li><ul><li>I would improve Fiona's answer by adding motorcycling leathers and helmet.</li><li>Fiona accepts Dad's improvement.</li><li>Lily is now the youngest on Fiona's answer, so she owns it</li><li>Lily decides to join Fiona, moving to Dad's answer.</li></ul><li>Grandma&nbsp;</li><ul><li>Grandma would improve Pepper's answer by adding a cool witch outfit.</li><li>Pepper accepts Grandma's improvement.</li><li>Fiona and Lily join Grandma's answer.</li><li>Dad complains loudly about it, but still loses the round.&nbsp;</li></ul></ol><li>&nbsp;Points are tallied on the two remaining answers</li><ul><li>Dad's answer:</li><ul><li>Dad 1 person x 2 points = 2 points total</li></ul><li>Grandma's answer:</li><ul><li>Grandma 4 people x 2 points = 8 points total</li><li>Lily 4 people x 1 point = 4 points total</li><li>Pepper 4 people x 1 point = 4 points total</li><li>Fiona 4 people x 1 point = 4 points total</li></ul></ul><li>The points are tallied, and then everything starts from step 3, but with Pepper proposing the What If now. Turns proceed in order until everyone gets a turn to propose a scenario, and then everyone decides if they want to go another round. </li></ol><ol><ul></ul></ol>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-9567729082881312142016-07-01T12:00:00.000-07:002016-07-03T13:06:43.008-07:00Rain wrap-up 2016The Stonehill News weather station recorded 14.43 inches of precipitation for the rain season ending June 30, 2016. I have made a tradition of reporting what my neighbors Dan Gollnick and <a href="http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCAALTAD1">Bill Westphal</a> recorded, going back to 1999 and 2003 respectively.<br /><br />Here are the available seasonal totals:<br /><br /><pre>Season PacRad KCAALTAD1 SHN Avg<br />1999-2000 19.76" -- -- --<br />2000-2001 21.22" -- -- --<br />2001-2002 8.27" -- -- --<br />2002-2003 24.47" -- -- --<br />2003-2004 15.47" 14.72" -- --<br />-----------------------------------------------<br />2004-2005 62.56" 56.66" 61.61" 60.28"<br />2005-2006 24.06" 22.37" 23.35" 23.26"<br />2006-2007 6.81" 6.52 " 6.15" 6.49"<br />2007-2008 26.04" 24.66" 23.64" 24.78"<br />2008-2009 16.34" 15.77" 15.09" 15.73"<br />2009-2010 26.50" 25.55" 24.92" 25.66"<br />2010-2011 34.49" 34.17" 30.70" 33.12"<br />2011-2012 13.62" 13.66" 13.39" 13.56"<br />2012-2013 11.58" 11.59" 11.39" 11.52"<br />2013-2014 6.38" 6.82" 6.66" 6.62"<br />2014-2015 12.81" 10.28" 11.82" 11.64"<br />2015-2016 16.84" 14.17" 14.43" 15.12"<br />-----------------------------------------------<br />(04+) Avg 21.5" 20.19" 20.26" 20.65"</pre><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><br />I've included averages from the 04-05 season to the present.<br /><br />I included lines on the map from both of the Stonehill stations to Bill's station. According to Google Maps, Bill is at 1640' and is approximately 1.25 miles WNW of here.<br /><br />That puts him at the exact same elevation as PacRad, but he's on slightly flatter terrain (no canyon walls directly adjacent to him). I speculate that the shape of the terrain more than the elevation is causing microclimatic differences, but it does not seem to follow a predictable pattern.<br /><br />We assume the variation is due to micro climatic differences, not calibration or placement problems. The fact that the percent difference is not consistent year over year supports this assumption. Further more, in the 2014-15 season, Dan retired his old hardware and has been using new hardware.<br /><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;output=embed" width="600"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Stonehill Weather Stations</a> in a larger map</small><br /><br /><br />Here are the previous wrap-up posts:<br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2015/06/rain-wrap-up-2015.html">Rain wrap-up 2015</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2014/07/rain-wrap-up-2014.html">Rain wrap-up 2014</a><br />(no Rain Wrap-up was posted in 2013)<br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2012/07/rain-wrap-up-2012.html">Rain wrap-up 2012</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2011/07/rain-wrap-up-2011.html">Rain wrap-up 2011</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2010/07/rain-wrap-up-2010.html">Rain wrap-up 2010</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2009/07/rain-wrap-up-2009.htm">Rain wrap-up 2009</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2008/07/rain-wrap-up-2008.htm">Rain wrap-up 2008</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2007/07/rain-wrap-up-2007.htm">Rain wrap-up 2007</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2006/08/rain-wrap-up.htm">Rain wrap-up 2006</a>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0Altadena, CA, USA34.190162 -118.1313188000000334.1376265 -118.21199980000003 34.2426975 -118.05063780000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-67928427937624275592016-06-20T12:00:00.000-07:002016-06-20T11:43:02.816-07:00Weather<i>originally posted 7/01/2007 </i><br /><br />The web cam snapshot is updated every minute. The graphs and data on this page are updated every five minutes. The raw data is also submitted to <a href="http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCAALTAD2">Weather Underground</a> every five minutes.<br /><br /><a href="http://stonehillnews.com/weather/image.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://stonehillnews.com/weather/image.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" /></a><br /><br /><hr /><br />Weather Dashboard:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/shnweather.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/shnweather.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><hr /><br />Running 5-day Temperature:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws742.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws742.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" /></a><br /><br /><hr /><br />Running 5-day Pressure:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws743.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws743.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" /></a><br /><br /><hr /><br />Running 5-day Rain:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws744.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws744.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" /></a><br /><br /><hr /><br />Running 1-day Wind Speed and Gusts:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws737.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws737.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" /></a><br /><br /><hr /><br />Running 5-day Wind Direction, Speed and Gusts:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws1765.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws1765.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws1766.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws1766.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws1767.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/vws1767.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 600px;" /></a><br /><br /><hr /><br />See <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/Vce5421PB2CEy96t7">photos of the weather station</a> components:<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://goo.gl/photos/Vce5421PB2CEy96t7" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nz-uyQNCZMw/RpFr2_UXhkI/AAAAAAAAR3I/-egzJ_LF7aojHMQhc7CEaAom-capltt1gCKgB/s320/P7080008.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://goo.gl/photos/Vce5421PB2CEy96t7">Weather Station Photos</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />The hardware is the discontinued WM918 kit from Oregon Scientific. These are the <a href="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/wm918.htm">Tech Specs</a>.<br /><br />The software is <a href="http://www.ambientweather.com/virtualstation.html">Virtual Weather Station</a> from Ambient Weather<br /><br /><hr /><br />Anyone may link to our weather images. A fresh version of each one is automatically uploaded every 5 minutes (assuming everything is working right, which is most of the time). If you use an image on a public site, I'd be grateful for a link-back.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stonehillnews.com/weather/shnweather.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br /></a>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0Altadena, CA, USA34.190162 -118.1313188000000334.1376265 -118.21199980000003 34.2426975 -118.05063780000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-13412784817926755122015-10-11T18:11:00.001-07:002015-10-11T18:12:01.446-07:00Unusually hot nights in Southern CaliforniaThe last three nights, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 8-10, 2015, have been unusual for southern California. This graph shows the outdoor temperature in Fahrenheit for the last five days running. The horizontal axis shows midnight for each day. The nights of October 6/7 and October 7/8 show the typical southern California pattern, a smooth even cooling off starting at sunset, with the coolest part of the day being just before sunrise.<br /><br />I've taken the curve from the first night on this graph and overlaid it on the last three nights. The bold, jagged line is the actual temperature, and the grayed out smooth line below it is what the night temperature might have looked like if not for the unusual hot dry air that caused the jagged warming effects throughout the last three nights.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jv6g6LW1vE0/VhsF5oI-eTI/AAAAAAAARi0/SP9k2VnLPVs/s1600/vws742-overlay-2015-10-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jv6g6LW1vE0/VhsF5oI-eTI/AAAAAAAARi0/SP9k2VnLPVs/s1600/vws742-overlay-2015-10-11.jpg" /></a></div><br />Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-4710698375086249822015-09-26T16:55:00.003-07:002015-10-04T11:14:33.752-07:00Simple Shower Water Recapture SystemIn spring of 2015 we implemented a variation of the "bucket flush" concept. If you <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=bucket+flush+graywater">search with terms like "bucket flush graywater"</a> there is plenty of material out there, but all of it that I found is either too complicated (involves plumbing) or talks in generalities.<br /><br />We have been using a bucket flush system in both bathrooms for about six months now; this is a write-up of exactly how we did it, and how it has been using it in practice.<br /><br /><h2>Catching the water</h2>I found these plastic organizer boxes from Really Useful Boxes at OSH, and it turns out they're <a href="http://www.reallyusefulproducts.co.uk/usa/html/onlineshop/rub/b08_1litre.php">available online direct from the manufacturer</a> for about what I paid at OSH (just over $10 each). While they are not the cheapest organizer boxes, I chose them for a number of reasons. On top of being very sturdy, they are wide-mouthed for catching water, a good size for the shower stalls and are a manageable for kids to carry and pour. They hold 8.1 liters (about 2 gallons) each. You won't need the lid, and the handles pop off easily if you don't want to use them.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ccdK0SS-wY0/VgcPo5YytVI/AAAAAAAARgs/lDYoDgGp23U/s1600/b08_1litre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ccdK0SS-wY0/VgcPo5YytVI/AAAAAAAARgs/lDYoDgGp23U/s200/b08_1litre.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VH3AyFcmQFc/VgcOq97wHJI/AAAAAAAARgk/1l89SA9Lh3g/s1600/IMG_6245.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VH3AyFcmQFc/VgcOq97wHJI/AAAAAAAARgk/1l89SA9Lh3g/s200/IMG_6245.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><span id="goog_750132372"></span><span id="goog_750132373"></span><br />In one bathroom, the shower is in a curved tub, so the fact that they stack is important. We have four in this shower, which means we can capture up to 8 gallons of warm-up water, but most of the shower still goes down the drain.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XBrRvPX2Jg0/VgcOqhWuiFI/AAAAAAAARgg/hz1A0gsyu9k/s1600/IMG_6244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XBrRvPX2Jg0/VgcOqhWuiFI/AAAAAAAARgg/hz1A0gsyu9k/s640/IMG_6244.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br />In our other bathroom, the shower has a flat bottom, and four boxes can all fit under the shower at the same time. This is why it's also important that the boxes we chose are sturdy, because I resolved to find a light-weight deck to place on top of the boxes, so we could catch most of the shower.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rR4teBA4hKw/VgcMUwT-4PI/AAAAAAAARfU/7_9_Yb1BE-w/s1600/IMG_6237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rR4teBA4hKw/VgcMUwT-4PI/AAAAAAAARfU/7_9_Yb1BE-w/s640/IMG_6237.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />We used a drop-leaf recycled from an old outdoor IKEA teak table. It was cut down to fit the shower stall. This has worked out really well. The table was a few seasons old, and the drop leaves had begun to dry out and loosen up. Since it gets wet every day, the wood is swelled back up, and the joints are not loose at all. It could hardly be a more perfect platform. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r3lEUpWtnh4/VgcMW5vBsWI/AAAAAAAARf8/mJaRQSrbOac/s1600/IMG_6241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r3lEUpWtnh4/VgcMW5vBsWI/AAAAAAAARf8/mJaRQSrbOac/s640/IMG_6241.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />The table itself is still good. In fact we like it so much, we bought a second one. We can still use the older one without the drop-leaves.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-djjyPF3B8-A/VgcMXXPEKpI/AAAAAAAARgA/8ECxlcBsxzk/s1600/IMG_6242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-djjyPF3B8-A/VgcMXXPEKpI/AAAAAAAARgA/8ECxlcBsxzk/s640/IMG_6242.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="text_exposed_show">After a shower, we lift the deck so it can drip-dry, and gives easier access to the water boxes.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SbUgg0_MSiY/VgcMSfDMIbI/AAAAAAAAReQ/2-wJ41PXN6U/s1600/IMG_6222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SbUgg0_MSiY/VgcMSfDMIbI/AAAAAAAAReQ/2-wJ41PXN6U/s640/IMG_6222.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><h2>Using the Water </h2><br />Once you have a system in place for catching the water, even if it's just the warm-up from your shower, then next issue becomes what to do with it. As you can see from the pictures above, you will get shampoo and soap in the water. If you're catching the whole shower, obviously you'll also get some hair in it. More on that in a minute.<br /><br />This kind of water is good for flushing the toilets, watering outdoor plants, <span class="text_exposed_show">mopping or outdoor cleaning</span>. That's exactly what we use it for, in that order.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYSf2O9RBok/VgcMQfcFBsI/AAAAAAAARfw/fWjJIhdGXQM/s1600/IMG_5300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYSf2O9RBok/VgcMQfcFBsI/AAAAAAAARfw/fWjJIhdGXQM/s640/IMG_5300.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">&nbsp;<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sAEFPB3oNn4/VgcMUMzhtcI/AAAAAAAARe4/7Ez7PXxNfvY/s1600/IMG_6234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sAEFPB3oNn4/VgcMUMzhtcI/AAAAAAAARe4/7Ez7PXxNfvY/s640/IMG_6234.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />As you can infer from these photos, we don't pour the water into the toilet bowl directly. Instead we've removed the covers from the tanks, and we flush normally, then fill the tank with gray water.<br /><br /><h3>Setting up the Tank</h3><br />The first thing I did is remove the tank cover from the toilet and store it somewhere out of the way.<br /><br /><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qajvoI7go4k/VgcMRJVwDdI/AAAAAAAARd0/mf4XAmSxA0w/s1600/IMG_6217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qajvoI7go4k/VgcMRJVwDdI/AAAAAAAARd0/mf4XAmSxA0w/s640/IMG_6217.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span class="text_exposed_show">Next, I turned down the tank fill valve to a trickle, so it will eventually fill on its own in case you don't have gray water handy.</span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> After a toilet flush, use water from one of your boxes to refill the tank. As I mentioned before, if you're catching the whole shower, you will find that you get some of the hair that would normally build up in the shower drain, and that can be a maintenance issue. I'll talk about maintenance next, but to prevent it from getting into the tank in the first place, I cut a piece of galvanized hardware cloth to fit inside the tank, and that acts very much as the screen on the shower drain does, preventing most of the hair from getting into the tank.</span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TzcjwVLiBzY/VgcMQ_ZOhII/AAAAAAAARfI/gHxU7Lds8vQ/s1600/IMG_6216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TzcjwVLiBzY/VgcMQ_ZOhII/AAAAAAAARfI/gHxU7Lds8vQ/s640/IMG_6216.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><span class="text_exposed_show"></span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><br /><h2><span class="text_exposed_show">Maintenance</span></h2><br /><span class="text_exposed_show">I hope this section is the most useful one, because there's very little I've found online that talks about the actual real-life issues that come with a system like this in daily use. I've found them to be very minor, but let's just be frank about the fact that implementing a system like this adds a couple minor chores to your list.</span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><span class="text_exposed_show">The three basic supplies I find are required are:</span><br /><ol><li><span class="text_exposed_show">Bleach (DO NOT MIX WITH ACID)</span></li><li><span class="text_exposed_show">Weak acid (vinegar)</span></li><li><span class="text_exposed_show">Small scrub brush </span></li></ol><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lsP7oO16UkE/VgcMRyKkZLI/AAAAAAAAReE/V48IQf6IaHY/s1600/IMG_6220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lsP7oO16UkE/VgcMRyKkZLI/AAAAAAAAReE/V48IQf6IaHY/s200/IMG_6220.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--lX1rtIN3tk/VgcMSJEP6rI/AAAAAAAARfE/zPEAI2wTP28/s1600/IMG_6221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--lX1rtIN3tk/VgcMSJEP6rI/AAAAAAAARfE/zPEAI2wTP28/s200/IMG_6221.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZgCRy-UFVQg/VgcMS25f6II/AAAAAAAARe0/hQaxCGzP_MA/s1600/IMG_6223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZgCRy-UFVQg/VgcMS25f6II/AAAAAAAARe0/hQaxCGzP_MA/s200/IMG_6223.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />Optional (and not directly related to using gray water)<br /><ol><li>Strong acid (muriatic/hydrochloric) <a href="http://www.doityourself.com/stry/10-muriatic-acid-safety-tips">USE EXTREME CAUTION</a></li></ol><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rIxQm7hsKko/VgcMRgG9xcI/AAAAAAAARd4/5wDPXQlsDsc/s1600/IMG_6219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rIxQm7hsKko/VgcMRgG9xcI/AAAAAAAARd4/5wDPXQlsDsc/s200/IMG_6219.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><br /><h4><span class="text_exposed_show">Safety </span></h4><span class="text_exposed_show">First of all, let's just talk about chemical safety. <a href="http://ehs.berkeley.edu/lessons-learned/lesson-learned-accidental-mixing-bleach-and-acid">Never use the acid and the bleach at the same time</a>. If you choose to use muriatic acid, you must use <a href="http://www.doityourself.com/stry/10-muriatic-acid-safety-tips">all the recommended safety precautions</a>. While you can buy it at the hardware store, you must treat it with respect. It is a dangerous chemical, and should never be left where small children or animals can get to it. And remember your middle-school chemistry mantra, "<a href="http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/safety/faq/always-add-acid.shtml">Always Add Acid</a>".</span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><br /><h4><span class="text_exposed_show">Box maintenance </span></h4><span class="text_exposed_show">You will find that the boxes get a film of algae growth on them over time, so every couple weeks when you have all but one of them empty, you can add a small amount of bleach to the water (follow the directions on the bleach container), and then use your brush to wash the boxes with your weak bleach solution, inside and out, then let them air dry.</span><br /><br /><h4><span class="text_exposed_show">Tank maintenance</span></h4><span class="text_exposed_show">The tank is designed to hold potable water, so normally you wouldn't have to worry about bacteria, algea, etc. As a precaution, I periodically add a few drops of bleach to the tank to ensure than no colonies get started in the tank. You will have slightly cloudy and sudsy water in the tank once you start using gray water in it. This hasn't caused any problems for us, and I can't see any reason why it should be bad, other than the potential to gradually cause more build up than would ordinarily happen, if you have hard water like we do.</span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>We have hard water (slightly above neutral pH; slightly alkaline). From what I've read, many water districts choose to balance drinking water a bit above neutral, rather than under, because they prefer a mineral build-up that gradually narrows the inside of the pipes over slightly corrosive water that eats them away. At our house we see distinct mineral buildup on all our faucets, etc. Add the soap residue that comes with using gray water, and I choose to lower the pH in the tank now and then, but only when I haven't already added bleach (never mix acid and chlorine bleach). Vinegar is a very safe choice for this, and will help clean mineral buildup. If you use it safely, and don't over-concentrate it, you can use a small amount of muriatic acid, but as I've already said several times, you must use every recommended precaution if you choose to use a strong acid.<br /><span class="text_exposed_show"></span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show">I am a little concerned about getting clogs from hair. So far we've seen hair making its way through the bowl-rinse flow holes, requiring a bit of extra bowl maintenance, but adding the screen over the tank has stopped most of the hair from getting into the tank. You'll need to clear off the screen now and then when the hair builds up, just like you would on the shower drain.</span><br /><br /><h4><span class="text_exposed_show">Bowl maintenance</span></h4><span class="text_exposed_show">As I mentioned, if you use a screen over the tank, you shouldn't have much trouble with hair making its way through the rinse holes. That said, some inevitably will, so you will see them along the sides of the bowl. They are very easy to clean. I typically use a bit of bleach solution and my little scrub brush. But NOT when I've already added acid to the water. <a href="http://ehs.berkeley.edu/lessons-learned/lesson-learned-accidental-mixing-bleach-and-acid">Don't mix chlorine bleach and acid</a> unless you like breathing chlorine gas…which you don't!</span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><span class="text_exposed_show">As you can see from this photo, the bowl generally has slightly cloudy and sudsy water in it, but it's easy to keep the bowl clean, as long as you don't feel squeamish about wiping out a few hairs now and then.</span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><span class="text_exposed_show">This really has nothing to do with gray water use in particular, but since it's impractical to get the bowl completely dry, a weak acid like vinegar or CLR cleaner will typically not be sufficient to dissolve mineral build up at the bottom of the bowl. As long as it is used with <a href="http://www.doityourself.com/stry/10-muriatic-acid-safety-tips">all the recommended precautions</a>, stronger acid can be added to the water to lower the pH enough to dissolve mineral build-up in the bottom of the bowl.</span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B6SUeSnprp4/VgcOY7Bx8fI/AAAAAAAARgU/B2PcRLqZMVk/s1600/IMG_6239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B6SUeSnprp4/VgcOY7Bx8fI/AAAAAAAARgU/B2PcRLqZMVk/s640/IMG_6239.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span><span class="text_exposed_show"></span><br /><h2><span class="text_exposed_show">Real world results</span></h2><span class="text_exposed_show">In practice, the bucket flush idea has not been a problem for anyone in the family. While it may not be the most dramatic change in terms of actual gallons saved, I think it has had one really important effect, which is making our teens more mindful about how they use water. While it does add some trivial chores to the month, it's not a burdensome thing to implement, and in my view it has been a success mainly because it makes us all think about water use differently.</span><br /><br /><span class="text_exposed_show">Taking all our water habit changes together, including major changes to our landscaping that require less irrigation, mindful showering and water use habits, and bucket flushing, we have cut our water use by around 60% month over month in 2015, compared to 2014.</span><br /><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /></span>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-59452913889282041212015-09-19T11:59:00.000-07:002015-10-04T11:14:59.845-07:00Advice From Dad: Installment 1<h3>Preface</h3><h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-77D0NiPonss/Vf4VGpwKBLI/AAAAAAAARa8/c0QkY1Y6S4s/s1600/IMG_6185.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-77D0NiPonss/Vf4VGpwKBLI/AAAAAAAARa8/c0QkY1Y6S4s/s320/IMG_6185.png" width="320" /></a></div></h2>I am the father of two wonderful teen girls. Over the past 15 years, I’ve occasionally heard well-meaning, but old-fashion clichés such as, “Two girls? Watch out dad! Better have the shotgun ready!” I find this type of advice to be sexist. I trust my girls to carry their own metaphorical shotguns.<br /><br />I strive to help them feel empowered. I trust they will try to apply common sense, and of course I know they will make mistakes. For years I’ve been contemplating what kind of dating advice I might give them when they’re old enough. I hope to impart self-confidence, and give them some advice that will help guide them as they begin to navigate the fraught waters of adolescent sexuality.<br /><br />I acknowledge that the following advice may be more frank than some parents are comfortable with. I wrestled with the decision to publish what is fundamentally personal material. Before I shared it with my daughters, I sought feedback from a few parents of their BFFs. I didn’t want my kids to share it with their friends, without first having vetted it with some fellow parents. I received positive feedback, and some encouragement to publish it. So here’s the first (and possibly only) installment of “Advice From Dad” for my two wonderful daughters.<br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="more"></a><br /><h3>Installment 1</h3>Hello my darlings,<br /><br />You are both old enough that I want to start a dialogue about some adult topics that we haven’t discussed much in the past. I’ve been working on articulating these first few topics over the summer, and I think they’re ready to share now.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><h4>&nbsp;Boys don't take hints very well</h4><ul><li>Boys are very dense. Sometimes you might feel like you are being ridiculously obvious, yet a boy is still just not getting the message. You can try hinting in very blatant ways, but remember, sometimes you have to hit a boy in the head with a brick (figuratively!) before he will understand you. No matter how obvious, hints might not get the job done. This can be humorous or frustrating when you are trying to give a boy a hint that you like him. It can also be very scary and serious if you are trying to give a boy the hint that you don’t like him, or that you changed your mind. Remember, you can never be too blunt with a boy. If a boy is ever having trouble remembering that “no means no,” give him a snap and ask him, “Didn’t you even graduate Kindergarten?!”</li></ul><h4>&nbsp;You are who you choose to be</h4><ul></ul><ul><li>There are many gender stereotypes that boys may try to live up to and which they may expect you to live up to. There is nothing inherently wrong with gender stereotypes, but nobody is obligated to conform to them. Stereotypes are beguiling, because they generally emerge from a truth, but they do not capture the nuances of real human beings. A dictionary definition: “A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.” The trick is to find boys that <i>you like</i> for <b>who <i>they</i> are</b>, and who <i>like you</i> for <b>who <i>you</i> are</b>. It is often hard for young adults to figure out their own individuality. That’s a big part of what adolescence and young-adulthood are about. Feel free to experiment with adopting and rejecting aspects of stereotypes until you figure out what fits. For example, it’s okay for you to ask a boy out, despite the gender stereotype that boys ask girls out. You may enjoy being asked out too, but don’t forget: boy…brick…head.</li></ul><h4>You can always change your mind </h4><ul></ul><ul><li>You are allowed to change your mind as often as you like. Some boys can be self-centered and manipulative, and may try to pressure you into things you aren’t ready for. Remember the brick in the head? Don’t forget that you might have to be very assertive with a boy if he is too pushy. If you ever decide you want to stop, he needs to stop. Regardless of what you were doing before you decided to stop, you don’t owe anybody anything. No matter what kind of guilt trips your partner may try on you, stick up for yourself. Oh, and if it ever comes up, there is no such thing as “blue balls”. If he claims there is, tell him to Google it or, better yet, to come talk to me about it.</li></ul><h4>Sexual violence is not about sex</h4><ul></ul><ul><li>I hope this particular point is advice you never need, but there is the possibility that you could encounter sexual violence. I don’t want to dwell on this one much, because I hope the chances of this happening to you are very low, but I do want to emphasize that sexual violence is not about sex. People who commit it are sad, sick people that do not have power in the rest of their lives. Victims of sexual violence are not to blame. While it is quite normal for victims to feel some shame or guilt, there actually is nothing shameful about it. Women are incredibly strong and resilient. Always remember: I love you no matter what.</li></ul><h4>&nbsp;Pornography</h4><ul></ul><ul><li>You are going to see pictures and video portraying adult sexuality (aka erotica, pornography, porn, or porno). It’s a pretty good bet that you’ve seen some of it already. Some people have negative associations with the word, porn. Merriam-Webster defines porn as, “The depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement.“ This is the sense in which I use it, without any negative connotation intended. What you need to know about porn is that a disproportionate amount of it is not created to appeal to women and girls. Porn and the people who watch it, act in it, produce it, etc., are not inherently bad. There’s no shame in being curious about it. Just be aware that you are likely to encounter porn that you don’t like, is disturbing, or might even be violent or degrading towards some of the actors. If you ever encounter porn that makes you feel uncomfortable, turn it off. Remember that most porn caters to a <i>male</i> sexual preference or fetish. It is being acted out by consenting adults who are involved willingly. It is very illegal to produce (or even watch) porn that is not created by consenting adults, so you are not likely to ever encounter anything like that. Remember, if you ever don’t like what you see, turn it off. If you ever see an image that really disturbs you, and you are having trouble “unseeing” it, please talk to someone you can trust about it.</li></ul><h4>Communicate and have fun </h4><ul></ul><ul><li>On the topic of porn, it’s also likely that the boys you like will have formed a lot of superficial ideas about what they think sex “should” be like from watching porn. The main thing wrong with this (as compared to past decades when porn was not so ubiquitous) is that they may fool themselves into thinking they are actually knowledgable about what women enjoy, based strictly on porn. Not likely! Again, back to the brick in the head; this means you might have to be very explicit, and teach boys what a real human young woman thinks is sexy and feels good. Don’t stand for a partner who is doing something that doesn’t feel good. Believe it or not, it might not feel good for them either! Communicate. Have fun. If there is discomfort or anxiety, you’re doing it wrong!</li></ul><h4>Be responsible </h4><ul></ul><ul><li>Use common sense, and always protect yourself: both emotionally and from STDs and unwanted pregnancy. If you choose to engage in adult behavior, you need to take adult responsibility.&nbsp;</li></ul><h4>I will always love you </h4><ul></ul><ul><li>While the advice I’m writing here is about boys and girls, that’s because I was once a boy, and you are girls. Most of this advice still applies for girls and girls, and boys and boys. I hope it’s obvious, but if you end up liking girls more than boys, that is nothing to be ashamed of.</li></ul>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-83151208199918208932015-06-30T20:37:00.000-07:002016-07-01T16:09:12.407-07:00Rain wrap-up 2015The Stonehill News weather station recorded 11.82 inches of precipitation for the rain season ending June 30, 2015. I have made a tradition of reporting what my neighbors Dan Gollnick and <a href="http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCAALTAD1">Bill Westphal</a> recorded, going back to 1999 and 2003 respectively.<br /><br />Here are the available seasonal totals:<br /><br /><pre>Season PacRad KCAALTAD1 SHN Avg<br />1999-2000 19.76" -- -- --<br />2000-2001 21.22" -- -- --<br />2001-2002 8.27" -- -- --<br />2002-2003 24.47" -- -- --<br />2003-2004 15.47" 14.72" -- --<br />-----------------------------------------------<br />2004-2005 62.56" 56.66" 61.61" 60.28"<br />2005-2006 24.06" 22.37" 23.35" 23.26"<br />2006-2007 6.81" 6.52 " 6.15" 6.49"<br />2007-2008 26.04" 24.66" 23.64" 24.78"<br />2008-2009 16.34" 15.77" 15.09" 15.73"<br />2009-2010 26.50" 25.55" 24.92" 25.66"<br />2010-2011 34.49" 34.17" 30.70" 33.12"<br />2011-2012 13.62" 13.66" 13.39" 13.56"<br />2012-2013 11.58" 11.59" 11.39" 11.52"<br />2013-2014 6.38" 6.82" 6.66" 6.62"<br />2014-2015 12.81" 10.28" 11.82" 11.64"<br />-----------------------------------------------<br />(04+) Avg 21.93" 20.73" 20.79" 21.15"</pre><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><br />I've included averages from the 04-05 season to the present. This year I also added the yearly average of the three stations<br /><br />I included lines on the map from both of the Stonehill stations to Bill's station. According to Google Maps, Bill is at 1640' and is approximately 1.25 miles WNW of here.<br /><br />That puts him at the exact same elevation as PacRad, but he's on slightly flatter terrain (no canyon walls directly adjacent to him). I speculate that the shape of the terrain more than the elevation is causing microclimatic differences, but it does not seem to follow a predictable pattern.<br /><br />We assume the variation is due to micro climatic differences, not calibration or placement problems. The fact that the percent difference is not consistent year over year supports this assumption. Further more, this season, Dan retired his old hardware and has been using new hardware.<br /><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;output=embed" width="600"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Stonehill Weather Stations</a> in a larger map</small><br /><br /><br />Here are the previous wrap-up posts:<br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2014/07/rain-wrap-up-2014.html">Rain wrap-up 2014</a><br />(no Rain Wrap-up was posted in 2013)<br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2012/07/rain-wrap-up-2012.html">Rain wrap-up 2012</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2011/07/rain-wrap-up-2011.html">Rain wrap-up 2011</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2010/07/rain-wrap-up-2010.html">Rain wrap-up 2010</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2009/07/rain-wrap-up-2009.htm">Rain wrap-up 2009</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2008/07/rain-wrap-up-2008.htm">Rain wrap-up 2008</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2007/07/rain-wrap-up-2007.htm">Rain wrap-up 2007</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2006/08/rain-wrap-up.htm">Rain wrap-up 2006</a>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-81956771292078172152014-07-01T19:02:00.000-07:002015-10-04T11:17:01.214-07:00Rain Wrap-up 2014The Stonehill News weather station recorded 6.66 inches of precipitation for the rain season ending June 30, 2014. I have made a tradition of reporting what my neighbors Dan Gollnick and <a href="http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCAALTAD1">Bill Westphal</a> recorded, going back to 1999 and 2003 respectively.<br /><br />Here are the available seasonal totals:<br /><br /><pre>Season PacRad KCAALTAD1 SHN<br />1999-2000 19.76" -- --<br />2000-2001 21.22" -- --<br />2001-2002 8.27" -- --<br />2002-2003 24.47" -- --<br />2003-2004 15.47" 14.72" --<br />--------------------------------------<br />2004-2005 62.56" 56.66" 61.61"<br />2005-2006 24.06" 22.37" 23.35"<br />2006-2007 6.81" 6.52 " 6.15"<br />2007-2008 26.04" 24.66" 23.64"<br />2008-2009 16.34" 15.77" 15.09"<br />2009-2010 26.50" 25.55" 24.92"<br />2010-2011 34.49" 34.17" 30.70"<br />2011-2012 13.62" 13.66" 13.39"<br />2012-2013 11.58" 11.59" 11.39"<br />2013-2014 6.38" 6.82" 6.66"<br />--------------------------------------<br />(04+) Avg 22.84" 21.78" 21.69"</pre><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><br />I've included averages from the 04-05 season to the present<br /><br />I included lines on the map from both of the Stonehill stations to Bill's station. According to Google Maps, Bill is at 1640' and is approximately 1.25 miles WNW of here.<br /><br />That puts him at the exact same elevation as PacRad, but he's on slightly flatter terrain (no canyon walls directly adjacent to him). I speculate that the shape of the terrain more than the elevation is causing microclimatic differences, but it does not seem to follow a predictable pattern.<br /><br />We assume the variation is due to micro climatic differences, not calibration or placement problems. The fact that the percent difference is not consistent year over year supports this assumption.<br /><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;output=embed" width="600"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Stonehill Weather Stations</a> in a larger map</small><br /><br /><br />Here are the previous wrap-up posts:<br />(no Rain Wrap-up was posted in 2013)<br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2012/07/rain-wrap-up-2012.html">Rain wrap-up 2012</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2011/07/rain-wrap-up-2011.html">Rain wrap-up 2011</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2010/07/rain-wrap-up-2010.html">Rain wrap-up 2010</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2009/07/rain-wrap-up-2009.htm">Rain wrap-up 2009</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2008/07/rain-wrap-up-2008.htm">Rain wrap-up 2008</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2007/07/rain-wrap-up-2007.htm">Rain wrap-up 2007</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2006/08/rain-wrap-up.htm">Rain wrap-up 2006</a>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-22616594854218918972012-07-01T10:40:00.000-07:002015-10-04T11:17:15.306-07:00Rain Wrap-up 2012The rain season of July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012 ended with 13.39 inches recorded on the Stonehill News weather station. I also have made a tradition of reporting what my neighbors, Dan Gollnick, at the top of Stonehill has recorded, going back to 1999, and Bill Westphal (<a href="http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCAALTAD1">Wunderground</a> call sign, KCAALTAD1) over near Loma Alta Elementary School since 2003.<br /><br />Here are the available seasonal totals:<br /><br /><pre>Season PacRad KCAALTAD1 SHN<br />1999-2000 19.76" -- --<br />2000-2001 21.22" -- --<br />2001-2002 8.27" -- --<br />2002-2003 24.47" -- --<br />2003-2004 15.47" 14.72" --<br />2004-2005 62.56" 56.66" 61.61"<br />2005-2006 24.06" 22.37" 23.35"<br />2006-2007 6.81" 6.52 " 6.15"<br />2007-2008 26.04" 24.66" 23.64"<br />2008-2009 16.34" 15.77" 15.09"<br />2009-2010 26.50" 25.55" 24.92"<br />2010-2011 34.49" 34.17" 30.70"<br />2011-2012 13.62" 13.66" 13.39"<br />--------------------------------------<br />(04+) Avg 26.30" 24.92" 24.86"</pre><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><br />I've included averages from the 04-05 season to the present<br /><br />I included lines from both of the Stonehill stations to Bill's station. According to Google Maps, Bill is at 1640' and is approximately 1.25 miles WNW of here.<br /><br />That puts him at the exact same elevation as PacRad, but he's on slightly flatter terrain (no canyon walls directly adjacent to him). I speculate that the shape of the terrain more than the elevation is causing Dan to average almost 2" more than Bill and me about 3/4" more than Bill.<br /><br />PacRad consistently logs a bit more rainfall, collecting 750 feet due North and 100 feet higher elevation. We assume this is due to micro climatic differences, not calibration or placement problems. The fact that the percent difference is not consistent year over year supports this assumption.<br /><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;output=embed" width="600"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Stonehill Weather Stations</a> in a larger map</small><br /><br /><br />Here are the previous wrap-up posts:<br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2011/07/rain-wrap-up-2011.html">Rain wrap-up 201</a>1<br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2010/07/rain-wrap-up-2010.html">Rain wrap-up 2010</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2009/07/rain-wrap-up-2009.htm">Rain wrap-up 2009</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2008/07/rain-wrap-up-2008.htm">Rain wrap-up 2008</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2007/07/rain-wrap-up-2007.htm">Rain wrap-up 2007</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2006/08/rain-wrap-up.htm">Rain wrap-up 2006</a>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-23695257494042532172011-09-15T11:58:00.000-07:002011-09-15T11:59:29.724-07:00Unpoppable at the Folly Bowl<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/LKfGdeeB4kk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0' />&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Yes, this is a free jazz quartet, jamming on rubber-band-sax, balloon-bass, guitar and drums. We saw them at the Folly Bowl in Altadena on Sept 10, 2011.</div><br />Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-65751629452839921172011-09-15T11:54:00.000-07:002011-09-15T12:00:38.163-07:00A Fine and Pleasant Misery: The Backyard SafariThe chapter titled The Backyard Safari from A Fine and Pleasant Misery by Patrick F. McManus was forwarded to me yesterday. I was reading it by myself in the SJC airport and couldn't contain my laughter. (It's only six pages long) Enjoy: <iframe frameborder="0" height="700" scrolling="no" src="http://books.google.com/books?id=SIwt-SlBYAkC&amp;lpg=PA57&amp;ots=HeAMXf7rPh&amp;dq=A%20Fine%20and%20Pleasant%20Misery%20The%20Backyard%20Safari&amp;pg=PA57&amp;output=embed" style="border: 0px;" width="600"></iframe>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-57070306272980806292011-07-01T11:06:00.000-07:002015-10-04T11:18:35.271-07:00Rain Wrap-up 2011The rain season of July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011 ended with 30.70 inches recorded on the Stonehill News weather station. I also have made a tradition of reporting what my neighbors, Dan Gollnick, at the top of Stonehill has recorded, going back to 1999, and Bill Westphal (<a href="http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCAALTAD1">Wunderground</a> call sign, KCAALTAD1) over near Loma Alta Elementary School since 2003.<br /><br />Here are the available seasonal totals:<br /><br /><pre><br />Season PacRad KCAALTAD1 SHN<br />1999-2000 19.76" -- --<br />2000-2001 21.22" -- --<br />2001-2002 8.27" -- --<br />2002-2003 24.47" -- --<br />2003-2004 15.47" 14.72" --<br />2004-2005 62.56" 56.66" 61.61"<br />2005-2006 24.06" 22.37" 23.35"<br />2006-2007 6.81" 6.52 " 6.15"<br />2007-2008 26.04" 24.66" 23.64"<br />2008-2009 16.34" 15.77" 15.09"<br />2009-2010 26.50" 25.55" 24.92"<br />2010-2011 34.49" 34.17" 30.70"<br />--------------------------------------<br />(04+) Avg 28.11" 26.53" 26.49"</pre><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><br />I've included averages from the 04-05 season to the present<br /><br />I included lines from both of the Stonehill stations to Bill's station. According to Google Maps, Bill is at 1640' and is approximately 1.25 miles WNW of here.<br /><br />That puts him at the exact same elevation as PacRad, but he's on slightly flatter terrain (no canyon walls directly adjacent to him). I speculate that the shape of the terrain more than the elevation is causing Dan to average almost 2" more than Bill and me about 3/4" more than Bill.<br /><br />PacRad consistently logs a bit more rainfall, collecting 750 feet due North and 100 feet higher elevation. We assume this is due to micro climatic differences, not calibration or placement problems. The fact that the percent difference is not consistent year over year supports this assumption.<br /><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;output=embed" width="600"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Stonehill Weather Stations</a> in a larger map</small><br /><br /><br />Here are the previous wrap-up posts:<br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2010/07/rain-wrap-up-2010.html">Rain wrap-up 2010</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2009/07/rain-wrap-up-2009.htm">Rain wrap-up 2009</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2008/07/rain-wrap-up-2008.htm">Rain wrap-up 2008</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2007/07/rain-wrap-up-2007.htm">Rain wrap-up 2007</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2006/08/rain-wrap-up.htm">Rain wrap-up 2006</a>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-65468546373283275812011-02-27T14:17:00.001-08:002015-10-04T11:18:57.088-07:00Snow in Altadena Feb 26, 2011<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jPMTc8LJk1A?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jPMTc8LJk1A?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="390" width="640"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />As the week progressed, and Saturday drew near, weather predictions of snow down to 500 feet persisted, leading many to hope it may actually come to pass. After a rainy night, morning broke Saturday, and it seemed like we might have missed our chance when some light brief hail and more rain started falling.<br /><br />Then a strange thing happened late in the morning; the temperature dropped suddenly by about 10 degrees F, and an unusual kind of "soft hail" mixed with rain began falling. It was the source of much excitement. The entire neighborhood seemed to be out on their decks, judging from the periodic shrieks of excitement from various directions.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br />By my rough estimation, I think it started at around 11:45am. I've marked that approximate time with a yellow line on the various charts from the weather station. There are some very interesting and unusual patterns that came in with this system.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Atlt5Ni6hoU/TWrNnTogqCI/AAAAAAAABbs/SJpKLrFkzkA/s1600/shnweather_2011-02-26.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578497163620558882" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Atlt5Ni6hoU/TWrNnTogqCI/AAAAAAAABbs/SJpKLrFkzkA/s1600/shnweather_2011-02-26.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /></a>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-42386542333386459932010-07-01T07:33:00.000-07:002015-10-04T11:19:07.634-07:00Rain wrap-up 2010The rain season of July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 ended with 24.92 inches recorded on the Stonehill News weather station. I also have made a tradition of reporting what my neighbors, Dan Gollnick, at the top of Stonehill has recorded, going back to 1999, and Bill Westphal (<a href="http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCAALTAD1">Wunderground</a> call sign, KCAALTAD1) over near Loma Alta Elementary School since 2003.<br /><br />Here are the available seasonal totals:<br /><br /><pre><br />Season PacRad KCAALTAD1 SHN<br />1999-2000 19.76" -- --<br />2000-2001 21.22" -- --<br />2001-2002 8.27" -- --<br />2002-2003 24.47" -- --<br />2003-2004 15.47" 14.72" --<br />2004-2005 62.56" 56.66" 61.61"<br />2005-2006 24.06" 22.37" 23.35"<br />2006-2007 6.81" 6.52 " 6.15"<br />2007-2008 26.04" 24.66" 23.64"<br />2008-2009 16.34" 15.77" 15.09"<br />2009-2010 26.50" 25.55" 24.92"<br />--------------------------------------<br />(04+) Avg 27.05" 25.26" 25.79"</pre><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><br />I've included averages from the 04-05 season to the present<br /><br />I included lines from both of the Stonehill stations to Bill's station. According to Google Maps, Bill is at 1640' and is approximately 1.25 miles WNW of here.<br /><br />That puts him at the exact same elevation as PacRad, but he's on slightly flatter terrain (no canyon walls directly adjacent to him). I speculate that the shape of the terrain more than the elevation is causing Dan to average almost 2" more than Bill and me about 3/4" more than Bill.<br /><br />PacRad consistently logs a bit more rainfall, collecting 750 feet due North and 100 feet higher elevation. We assume this is due to micro climatic differences, not calibration or placement problems. The fact that the percent difference is not consistent year over year supports this assumption.<br /><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;output=embed" width="600"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Stonehill Weather Stations</a> in a larger map</small><br /><br /><br />Here are the previous wrap-up posts:<br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2009/07/rain-wrap-up-2009.htm">Rain wrap-up 2009</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2008/07/rain-wrap-up-2008.htm">Rain wrap-up 2008</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2007/07/rain-wrap-up-2007.htm">Rain wrap-up 2007</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2006/08/rain-wrap-up.htm">Rain wrap-up 2006</a>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-69163634330715759682010-05-14T10:16:00.000-07:002015-10-04T11:19:53.895-07:00PUSD: Perception vs Reality<span style="font-weight: bold;">"PUSD testing scores improve: Teacher layoffs leave some wary of lasting results"</span><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8VSjX9RrHbc/S-2GWB5XKdI/AAAAAAAABYI/NE561j0Q3sQ/s1600/StarNewsHeadline_20100514.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471176835349293522" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8VSjX9RrHbc/S-2GWB5XKdI/AAAAAAAABYI/NE561j0Q3sQ/s320/StarNewsHeadline_20100514.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 147px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 320px;" /></a>I picked up the Pasadena Star News this morning, and saw this headline.<br /><br />When I turned to the opinion page, I found another headline:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">"The culture of PUSD must change"</span><br /><br />The opinion piece is a Guest View by Ross Selvidge who emerged as the leader of the No on CC campaign. First let me state that, while I supported Measure CC, I do not claim there are no valid arguments against it.<br /><br />That being said, I read through his piece, and just shook my head through the entire thing. It's a smug, gloating indictment of PUSD based on the same cherry-picked data and tired old tropes use during the campaign. No surprise, to be sure, but it's frustrating that the only people who seem to get local media attention with regard to PUSD are the ones who can boil the complex issues down to meaningless soundbites. The local papers have been accused of everything from laziness to outright bias on PUSD issues. It seems that they often pick up the phone to get easy quotes from the same old nattering nabobs of negativism who make a sport of sitting on the sidelines and taking pot shots. So I appreciate the factual tone of headline and the story on the front page today, and it was a disappointment to see such an uninformed and negative opinion piece in the same issue.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br />The fact is, I am a direct consumer PUSD services. I'm not sure what Mr. Selvidge is, but based on the out-of-date opinions he expresses, I infer that he is not a PUSD customer. It's no surprise, really. Such outdated superficial perceptions are common throughout the community outside of PUSD customer circles. Mr. Selvidge makes this point himself (perhaps overstating it a bit) at the top of his piece when he states that, "PUSD does not enjoy the confidence of a very broad segment of the district."<br /><br />I don't I agree with some of the other conclusions he draws about the meaning of the vote, but then I don't agree with the conclusions of the campaign on the yes side either. Both Mr. Selvidge on the "No" side and Peter Drier on the "Yes" side have claimed that the result of the election amounts to a mandate, yadda yadda yadda. Pure political spin from both sides as far as I'm concerned.<br /><br />The fact is, however, Mr. Selvidge himself surely embodies the opinions of a large number of non-customer residents of PUSD. Let's examine some of the possible reasons that there is such antipathy towards PUSD.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. Confirmation bias</span><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias">Confirmation bias</a> is a tendency for people to prefer information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses, independently of whether they are true. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-lewicka_1-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias#cite_note-lewicka-1"></a></sup><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bensley_2-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias#cite_note-bensley-2"></a></sup>People can reinforce their existing attitudes by selectively collecting new evidence, by interpreting evidence in a biased way, or by selectively recalling information from memory.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias#cite_note-oswald-3"></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Complexity</span><br /><br />Any complicated issue is hard to understand, much less solve. It's understandable that a smart person like Mr. Selvidge could draw conclusions that are factual, and even logical on some level, but which actually completely skew the issue. For example, the question of how much PUSD spends per pupil: Mr. Selvidge consistently made assertions during the Measure CC campaign that PUSD spends more per pupil than surrounding districts. He does not reveal that he is including categorical funds which are earmarked for programs like feeding poor kids breakfast and lunch, special ed, and low income healthcare. Now you may or may not agree with the fact that these programs are administered through PUSD, but it is not reasonable to include their cost when tallying the PUSD budget. According to a letter from Board Member Ed Honowitz, the PUSD base revenue limit (unrestricted money) in the same year Mr. Selvidge was using to make his point that PUSD had near the highest per pupil funding, the PUSD budget was $5,644 per student, which ranked 41 out of 47 unified school districts in LA County, or in the bottom 15%.<br /><br />A pessimist would say that he understood this fact was being used to "prove" a political point in contrast with reality, but knew that since it was factually correct, it couldn't be refuted without sounding defensive, and therefore was used for pure political advantage. Giving the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he just really believed the conclusion he reached.<br /><br />It is not my intent to debate the minutia. My point is that this stuff is hard, and you can make any point you like by cherry picking data and printing up a graph. People need things to be simple, and therefore whoever can make it sound simplest will often win the argument.<br /><br />The fact is, Edwin Diaz, the Superintendent of PUSD, is an operationally oriented leader. He is far superior to Percy Clark, in my opinion. The district has seen a shrinking budget year over year, in accordance with the reductions from the state. Many neighboring districts already instituted parcel taxes in prior years. San Marino taxes its residents over $1000 a year. The arguments about how PUSD is performing, and weather or not that means it "deserves" the funding is paramount to blaming the victim.<br /><br />Setting aside the academic debate, it has never been ambiguous that California in general funds public education near the bottom per capita of all states, and roughly 165 PUSD teachers received preliminary layoff notices in March (along with lots of non teachers). Measure CC would have stanched that bleeding, and fit roughly half of those teachers back into the budget.<br /><br />You can debate weather or not the district is doing well, how much it spends, how it is managed, etc all you like, but what I cannot understand is how people who voted no on CC reconcile their perception of "low quality" of PUSD (an unsophisticated and out-of-date assertion, in my view), with the decision to reduce/withhold funding for teacher salaries. I guess the best light I can see it in is "tough love". What I really think it amounts to is a superficial and uninformed perspective on how the district is being run, combined with a tough economic climate making taxes in general a tough sell.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Socioeconomic prejudice</span><br /><br />There is a tendency to look at the past through rose colored glasses. Mr. Selvidge reveals this bias himself, stating that if such-and-such happens, "PUSD will be on the path to becoming again the quality and highly regarded school district it once was."<br /><br />I am only 39 and I have only lived in Altadena for 14 years, so I have no first hand experience with busing, desegregation, white flight and the racial legacy of PUSD.<br /><br />While all of that is important history, as a direct consumer of today's PUSD, I can tell you that I'm a bit tired of hearing people describe the district in the context of yesterday's PUSD. I've been drawing my own conclusions by visiting PUSD schools and making my own observations since 2003 or so when I started to develop a plan for educating my children (currently in 1st and 3rd grades). I am not blind to the challenges the district faces, especially with regard to serving the kids on the lower side of the achievement gap.<br /><br />But I have no concern that my children, who are on the high side of that gap, are going to be dragged down just by proximity to underprivileged children. To the contrary, there is ample evidence so satisfy me that the opposite is true for kids on both sides of that gap. I really believe that a rising tide raises all ships. Upon concluding that I could navigate the waters within the district and feel confident that my children will receive first rate educations, I felt it would be small-minded and selfish of me to put them in a more "elite" private school. While I think there are plenty of valid reasons to send one's children to private school, I assert that many people do it out of fear and misunderstanding of socioeconomic groups outside of their own.<br /><br />While the white flight days are long over, an anti-PUSD bias still remains, as evidenced by the fact that PUSD attendance area has double the national average of kids in private school. I've heard the figure put at 30%. Given the quality of education that can be found inside PUSD (by engaging in it and focusing even a fraction of the energy and resources one would spend to send kids to private school into public education), this is an unforgivable figure. There is far too much "keeping up with the Joneses" in the PUSD attendance areas, and it is based on laughably outdated socioeconomic biases.<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Creation is Harder Than Destruction</span><br /><br />It can be less socially risky, in contemporary society, to be pessimistic about things. It's simpler to stand on the outside of a complex situation and make criticisms than it is to step up and engage in trying to improve it. Consider Mr. Selvidge's closing remarks in his opinion piece. He offers some vague suggestions, "such as emphasizing neighborhood schools in the primary grades, giving parents in those neighborhoods significant influence over the management of those schools and establishing a merit high school," all of which may or may not be better than the systems in place now, or arguably already exist. The fact is, however, it wasn't his job to actually solve these (or any problems). His only goal was to marshal the fears of those voters who share his out-dated perspective on the quality and issues of PUSD. Having succeeded in that fairly simple (given the national and state economic crises) task, his opinion piece is just pointless gloating.Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-8227248004461612952009-09-24T08:36:00.000-07:002015-10-04T11:21:08.152-07:00Big improvement at Eaton Canyon falls<a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/SANY0012-747606.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/SANY0012-747205.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 320px;" /></a>Okay, this picture may not be the most inspiring, but for anyone who may have felt a bit depressed by my <a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2009/06/eaton-canyon-falls-graffiti-survey.htm">June post</a> with photos and video of the extreme defacement of Eaton Canyon, north of the Mt Wilson Toll Road bridge, I have some good news .<br /><br />Last weekend I hiked the trail, and was pleasantly surprised. First, while the creek was dry about 1/3 of the way up, the water was running over the falls, and was still creating enough of a pool that there were people swimming and enjoying themselves in it.<br /><br />But more importantly, all the June graffiti was painted out. As you can see from the photo above, some tags have reappeared, and some of the abatement paint jobs are not the most artful, but before you gasp in horror at the thought of painting over rocks to "remove" graffiti, it really is a gigantic improvement, and the ham-handed cover-up paint job shown in the photo in only obvious because it's on a smooth surface. On rocks, the texture forces the paint-over to be more mottled and blend much better than this. I didn't get any photos of the cover-up of the "murals" at the falls (there were some women swimming and I didn't want to be creepy), but they're far less noticeable, and a major improvement.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br />On the <a href="http://stonehillnews.com/subscribe.php">Stonehill News email group</a>, there was some discussion about the pros and cons of painting over vs removal. I was concerned that removal might actually be worse because of the difficulty in containing any solvents or waste that would result. So in my view, painting over is not ideal, but the only thing better would be a magic wand that prevented the graffiti in the first place.<br /><br />Graffiti has been will continue to be a constant problem along that trail, and as such, the rocks are were already coated with layers of abatement paint long before the major defacement I photographed in June. If you're a geologist or naturalist looking for pristine nature, you will might want to pick a different trail for hiking, but in a general sense, seeing the graffiti kept at bay so efficiently makes me feel like we live in a civil society.<br /><br />The somewhat grim news I have is that while coming out of the wash I encountered a large family group staging at the bottom of the Toll Road, preparing to hike in. There were several children and adults. They were carrying folding chairs, back-packs, a cooler, etc. The grim part is that they were all dressed in kind of "gang-ie" looking clothes, consisting of tight straight braids and bald heads, black baseball hats, black baggy t-shirts or white tank tops, thin gold chains, baggy shorts, etc., and there was a large new can of Krylon industrial marking paint sitting on the ground amidst their supplies. As I approached them and spotted the paint, I commented (with a wink and a smile) something like, "you're going to use that to cover up graffiti, right?" They looked a bit surprised for a moment and then laughed it off, and went on to admire my dog (she's a pit-bull, and they liked the breed).<br /><br />In any case, despite it having been notably better in terms of the level of graffiti, there were already a few tags here and there, and I assume there's a good chance that the group I encountered added their own markings when they went in.<br /><br />As such, I waited until today, but I did call for abatement:<br /><br />LACO Graffiti Hotline 800-675-4357 option 2<br /><br />The man who answered told me they should have it cleaned up in about 3 days. (confirmation #118162)<br /><br />Every time I've used this hotline, the problem has gotten cleaned up very quickly, so please do use it if you see graffiti yourself.Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-71000639984812998932009-09-11T18:40:00.000-07:002009-09-11T18:52:37.625-07:00Selected Station Fire Time Lapse VideosThese are both worth watching full screen (they are embedded as HD already)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">View from Mt Wilson Sept 4th - 7th</span><br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xBTUPpJJ4BU&hl=en&fs=1&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xBTUPpJJ4BU&hl=en&fs=1&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />View from across town, Aug 29</span><br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0qqxjO5nr8k&hl=en&fs=1&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0qqxjO5nr8k&hl=en&fs=1&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-10668625282540086952009-09-06T18:04:00.000-07:002015-10-04T11:26:50.019-07:00Dodging the Station FireOur family's two-week summer vacation started the weekend before the Station Fire. We came home for two nights (Thursday 8/27 and Friday 8/28) before it was seriously threatening our neighborhood in northeast Altadena. The breeze delivered two days of clear skies and two nights of choking smoke.<br /><br />Thank goodness the wind never presented the seasonal Santa Ana pattern that can happen at this time of year, with the characteristic hot gusting winds out of the north that fanned the local fires of 1993. The Station Fire has only been fanned by the gentle Foothills breathing rhythm that residents rely on to draw the day's hot air out to sea every night. The Stonehill anemometer chronicles this pattern of gentle south breeze all day and gentle north breeze all night. A look at the current 5-day readings illustrates the breath-like regularity of this pattern.<br /><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/vws1765_20090906-769119.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/vws1765_20090906-769115.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 520px;" /></a><br /><br />With our windows closed all night, we contemplated our vacation plans and decided that they were in some ways a blessing. So we voluntarily evacuated to escape the smoke and enjoy the second half of our vacation on Saturday 8/29, and monitored the email lists, web cams and blogs from afar all week. The steady flow of information made it possible for us to enjoy our vacation with one eye on how things were progressing online. At one point early in the week, we contemplated flying me back home to help defend the neighborhood should it come to that, but decided against it. Amidst the bounty of near-real-time information, these photos were among some of the most reassuring to me personally. They were emailed by Dan Gollnick, showing professional Hot Shot crews fortifying the perimeter defenses along the Altadena Crest Trail.<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/Mill-Creek-Hotshots-001-786152.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/Mill-Creek-Hotshots-001-785957.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 520px;" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/Mill-Creek-Hotshots-002-726726.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/Mill-Creek-Hotshots-002-726512.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 520px;" /></a><!-- <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/Mill-Creek-Hotshots-003-756289.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 520px;" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/Mill-Creek-Hotshots-003-756008.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> --><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/Running-Hose-Line-002-791013.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/Running-Hose-Line-002-790991.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 520px;" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/Running-Hose-Line-009-776641.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/Running-Hose-Line-009-776622.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 520px;" /></a><br /><br />After having seen literally dozens of ominous photos like the brief selection posted below, the photos of the hotshot crews fortifying our defenses was a welcome sight.<br /><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/Fires-2-774444.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/Fires-2-774344.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 520px;" /></a><br />Station Fire flaring up above JPL on 8/28/09 at about 8pm<br />Photo by Dan Finnerty<br /><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/IMG_3888_1024-707869.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/IMG_3888_1024-707762.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 520px;" /></a><br />Station Fire as seen from the top of Lake on 8/29/09 at about 6am<br />Photo by Bill Westphal<br /><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/IMG_4029_1024-720821.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/IMG_4029_1024-720716.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 520px;" /></a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_DC-10">DC-10</a> water bomber on 8/29/09 at about 5:30pm<br />Photo by Bill Westphal<br /><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/IMG_5784-2-782038.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/IMG_5784-2-781642.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 520px;" /></a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-3_Orion">P-3C Orion</a> water bomber over Mount Wilson Observatory on 8/30/09 at about 6:00pm<br />Photo by Greg Garner<br /><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/IMG_6025-798852.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/IMG_6025-798370.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 520px;" /></a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Mars">Martin Mars</a> water bomber over Mount Wilson Observatory on 9/1/09 at about 4:00pm<br />Photo by Greg Garner<br /><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/IMG_6004-760528.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/IMG_6004-760227.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 520px;" /></a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Mars">Martin Mars</a> water bomber flying over on 9/1/09 at about 4:00pm<br />Photo by Greg Garner<br /><br />In the local lore about the 1993 Santa-Ana-whipped blazes that destroyed many homes in our neighborhood, one of the biggest aspects of the stories is the near complete lack of professional support in the defense. Seeing these pictures, I imagined that the Gollnicks, who are the beachhead of Stonehill, must have found some level of satisfaction seeing professionals digging literally miles of "scratch lines" with 1.5 inch feeder hose laid the entire length.<br /><br /><embed flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&amp;noautoplay=1&amp;hl=en_US&amp;feat=flashalbum&amp;RGB=0xFFFFFF&amp;feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fstonehillnews%2Falbumid%2F5378542799972674097%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" height="400" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="520"></embed><br /><br />We returned from vacation late last night. I took a hike this morning along part of the "scratch-line" that the Hot Shots had built. Not to over-dramatize things, but I couldn't help looking at the coils of 1 inch hose as unmanned foxholes in hastily-build fortifications somewhere in the Ardennes, facing an anticipated German onslaught, which by some stroke of fate passed over and raged to the east. A staged Forest Service bulldozer at the ready and sky cranes ferrying supplies from the rear to the eastern front filled out the sense of walking a fortification prepared for a battle that never came.<br /><br />Living in a land without war or knights-of-old, wild-land hot shots are the knights-of-new, defending our kingdom against the flames of hell.<br /><br /><a href="http://sgvtribune.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=25414127&amp;event=830102&amp;CategoryID=0" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/Picture-508-703049.png" style="cursor: pointer; width: 520px;" /></a><br />A "knight-of-new" Grayback Forestry Hot Shots of Grants Pass, OR on 9/4/09<br />SGVN/Staff photo by Eric Reed<br /><br /><br />For posterity, here is a list of the best wildfire links collected during the week:<br /><blockquote>Non-government sites:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.enplan.com/fires/">Mashup map</a> of MODIS satellite thermal data and the GeoMAC perimeter data</li><li>Industry-watch <a href="http://www.wildfiretoday.com/">blog</a></li><li>Time-Life-quality <a href="http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/09/wildfires_in_southern_californ.html">photos</a> of the Station Fire</li></ul>National wildfire aggregate information:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://inciweb.org/">http://inciweb.org/</a></li><li><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://www.geomac.gov/">http://www.geomac.gov/</a></li><li><a href="http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/activefiremaps.php">http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/activefiremaps.php</a></li><li><a href="http://modis-fire.umd.edu/">http://modis-fire.umd.edu/</a></li></ul></blockquote>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-46825543202822836322009-08-31T10:33:00.000-07:002009-08-31T10:35:46.536-07:00How to subscribe to the email loopI just had an email inquiring about getting on the stonehill news email loop.<br /><br />Subscribing to our email loop is a simple self-serve process. Please feel free to share this link with your neighbors.<br /><br /><a href="http://stonehillnews.com/subscribe">http://stonehillnews.com/subscribe</a>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-4290123975646585412009-07-11T11:31:00.000-07:002009-07-11T12:59:14.089-07:00KCAALTAD1 ReportingBill Westphal (<a href="http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KCAALTAD1">Wunderground</a> call sign, KCAALTAD1) sent me his precipitation stats going back to 03-04.<br /><br /><pre><br />Season PacRad KCAALTAD1 SHN<br />1999-2000 19.76" -- --<br />2000-2001 21.22" -- --<br />2001-2002 8.27" -- --<br />2002-2003 24.47" -- --<br />2003-2004 15.47" 14.72" --<br />2004-2005 62.56" 56.66" 61.61"<br />2005-2006 24.06" 22.37" 23.35"<br />2006-2007 6.81" 6.52 " 6.15"<br />2007-2008 26.04" 24.66" 23.64"<br />2008-2009 16.34" 15.77" 15.09"<br />--------------------------------------<br />(04+) Avg 27.16" 25.20" 25.97"<br /></pre><br /><br />Bill calculated averages from all the data which I thought was a really interesting; I included averages from the 04-05 season to the present.<br /><br />I added lines from both Stonehill stations to Bill's station. According to Google Maps, Bill is at 1640' and is approximately 1.25 miles WNW of here.<br /><br />That puts him at the exact same elevation as PacRad, but he's on slightly flatter terrain (no canyon walls directly adjacent to him). I speculate that the shape of the terrain more than the elevation is causing Dan to average almost 2" more than Bill and me about 3/4" more than Bill.<br /><br /><iframe width="600" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=p&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.199699,-118.128691&amp;spn=0.012423,0.025749&amp;z=15&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">Stonehill Weather Stations</a> in a larger map</small>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-53039934894957769002009-07-11T11:07:00.000-07:002009-07-11T13:48:33.268-07:00An Actual Nigerian Scam in 2009The message below happened to make it through my spam filter this morning. Hard to believe that the venerable <a href="http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/nigeria.asp">Nigerian Scam</a> is still circulating in almost original form. You'd think they'd change up the country at least.<br /><br />Here is a hilarious description of how one scambaiter gets over on this kind of scammer (some scambaiter pranks aren't but this one is family friendly):<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/LkNTnTOgVyU&hl=en&fs=1&start=135&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/LkNTnTOgVyU&hl=en&fs=1&start=135&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />And here is a good Salon.com article on <a href="http://archive.salon.com/people/feature/2001/08/07/419scams/print.html">I crave your distinguished indulgence (and all your cash)</a> by Douglas Cruickshank<br /><br /><blockquote>From: "HON. JOHN ENOH EWAN" <h.johneenoh@gmail.com><br />Date: Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:00:29 -0500<br />To: <h.johneenoh@gmail.com><br />Subject: can i confide in you<br /><br />Dear Friend<br /><br />I am John Enoh Ewan the Chairman House of Committee on Finance, National Assembly Chambers of Federal Republic of Nigeria I write to honorably request your assistance in helping to receive amount of money into your account for safe keeping and for future investment in your country.<br /><br />By virtue of my position as the chief supervisor of foreign contracts, the sum of US$25,000,000.00 (Twenty Five Million United States Dollars) is available in escrow account that I intend to transfer overseas through your assistance as a foreign partner.<br /><br />This money is as a result of Over provision in the Federal government budget for unpaid contract amount to foreign contractors who executed contract in the Niger - Delta in Petroleum industry.<br /><br />As soon as the contract amount is paid to you, I will share with you 40% and 60% for me, my share you will help me to invest in any profitable and lucrative business in your country or any other country that you will so<br />advise.<br /><br />You can reach me by return mail, including<br />(1) Your full names and Age<br />(2) Your contact address and country of Origin<br />(3) Your company's name (if any) Your Position /Occupation<br />(4) Your confidential telephone (cell) and fax number<br /><br />The above information will enable me brief you more details of the transaction and also start the application process/documentation that will lead to the release of the funds to you through bank to bank transfer. While waiting for your quick response I remain your potential investment<br />partner.<br /><br />Best Regards,<br /><br />Honorable John Enoh<br /></blockquote>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-8175087985544508302009-07-01T12:44:00.000-07:002009-07-06T14:20:55.938-07:00Rain wrap-up 2009The rain season of July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009 ended with 15.09 inches recorded on the Stonehill News weather station. I also have made a habit of reporting what my neighbor at the top of Stonehill has recorded, going back to 1999. Here are the available seasonal totals:<br /><pre><br />Season PacRad SHN Difference<br />1999-2000 19.76" -- --<br />2000-2001 21.22" -- --<br />2001-2002 8.27" -- --<br />2002-2003 24.47" -- --<br />2003-2004 15.47" -- --<br />2004-2005 62.56" 61.61" 2.6%<br />2005-2006 24.06" 23.35" 3.0%<br />2006-2007 6.81" 6.15" 9.7%<br />2007-2008 26.04" 23.64" 9.3%<br />2008-2009 16.34" 15.09" 7.7%<br /></pre><br /><br />PacRad consistently logs a bit more rainfall, collecting 750 feet due North and 100 feet higher elevation. We assume this is due to micro climatic differences, not calibration or placement problems. The fact that the percent difference is not consistent year over year supports this assumption.<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=h&amp;om=1&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.1967,-118.118423&amp;spn=0.00504,0.006373&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&amp;hl=en&amp;t=h&amp;om=1&amp;msa=0&amp;msid=108275238187276708330.000434b6c43042ef21891&amp;ll=34.1967,-118.118423&amp;spn=0.00504,0.006373&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">Stonehill Weather Stations</a> in a larger map</small><br /><br />Here are the previous wrap-up posts:<br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2008/07/rain-wrap-up-2008.htm">Rain wrap-up 2008</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2007/07/rain-wrap-up-2007.htm">Rain wrap-up 2007</a><br /><a href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/2006/08/rain-wrap-up.htm">Rain wrap-up 2006</a>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-70801467686160217952009-06-20T21:01:00.000-07:002009-06-20T21:06:46.088-07:00More June RainFor the third time this month we recorded June rain. 2mm today puts us at 15.08" for the season. The wind pattern was very unusual too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/vws744_20090620-720256.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 131px;" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/vws744_20090620-720254.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/vws1766_20090620-747289.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 353px;" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/vws1766_20090620-747286.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-84545929979356369862009-06-13T19:04:00.000-07:002009-06-13T19:53:22.222-07:00Eaton Canyon Falls Graffiti Survey<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="600" height="400" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0xFFFFFF&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fstonehillnews%2Falbumid%2F5346972192232096577%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br />Today I hiked up to the Eaton Canyon Falls, and I took a picture of every surface that had paint on it, either covering old graffiti, brand new graffiti or both. As you can tell by looking at all the painted over rocks and walls, graffiti is nothing new under the bridge and along the whole creek bed, however make sure you go all the way through to the end of the slide show. The walls and rocks of the canyon by the falls have been spray painted on a scale that is unusual, judging by the fact that many of the surfaces that are defaced do not have abatement paint behind them.<br /><br />It's hard to tell from the photos just how disturbing it is to see in person. It reminds me of pre-Giuliani Central Park. This video, panning around the falls area helps illustrate how terrible this is.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vi_rsUiSlXM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vi_rsUiSlXM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />I plan on calling this defacement into the graffiti hotline now, and will update this post with the confirmation number(s). The county has previously been extremely prompt about taking care of graffiti. We'll see how long this takes to clean up, as it's far less accessible. I suppose they'll hike in with supplies, as a helicopter drop off seems overkill for graffiti.<br /><br />Update: I just got off the phone with the Graffiti Hotline.<br /><br />LACO Graffiti Hotline 800-675-4357 option 2<br /><br />The woman who answered told me they should have it cleaned up by Wednesday. (confirmation #108516)Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12554338.post-81155949859257666202009-06-13T13:06:00.000-07:002009-06-13T13:10:46.736-07:00More June Rain Registered on the GaugeThe odd cloudy weather has persisted and today and yesterday the light drizzle brought our annual rainfall total up another 4mm (.16") for a nice even 15" this year.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/vws744_20090613-797902.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 131px;" src="http://blog.stonehillnews.com/uploaded_images/vws744_20090613-797900.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Chart of June's annual precipitation to date as of 6/13/2009Jeremiah Smallhttps://plus.google.com/102945338377663847387noreply@blogger.com0